


oh but I know 이미

by merryofsoul



Series: requests [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5 + 1 Things, Canon Compliant, M/M, doyoung has a thing about yuta's hair and it is a mood (maybe this author's mood)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryofsoul/pseuds/merryofsoul
Summary: Doyoung is experiencing a crisis.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Nakamoto Yuta
Series: requests [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667494
Comments: 9
Kudos: 122





	oh but I know 이미

**Author's Note:**

  * For [helicases](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helicases/gifts).

> The request was up in the air but I jokingly (seriously) suggested an essay on yuta's ponytail, and I didn't get any complaints so here we are 😇
> 
> Also, please don't come at me about the hair timeline or doyoung's glasses (does he actually need them??) bc I am brand new to nct 💚

Doyoung has his eyes closed as the rest of the members pile into the van. It’s too early — too _late_, really — and with all the people they have plus the bags, they have to get to the airport even earlier than the time when an overthinker would show up. 

Half of them are already asleep again, and Doyoung is getting there when the last person finally climbs into the van. His head knocks uncomfortably against the window as they start to move, and he cracks his eyes open as he readjusts. 

Yuta is sitting in the row ahead of him, and Doyoung stares until what he’s looking at finally clicks. 

Yuta’s hair has been getting long, that isn’t a surprise, but Doyoung has never seen it pulled back like this before. There’s not really much to put up, but Yuta has used a bunch of clips to capture the shorter hairs at the back. All in all, it looks like it took more work to put it up than if he’d just tucked it behind a headband or put on a hat, but Doyoung has to admit…

It works. 

There’s something about the bangs and the wispy hairs framing the side of Yuta’s face that hits Doyoung right in the chest. That’s probably mostly due to his whole Yuta thing, but _wow._ He’s glad he can only see part of Yuta’s face, because if he had to see the full look straight on, he’d make an embarrassing noise. 

He finally looks away, because at any moment Yuta is sure to feel his gaze, and makes eye contact with Jaehyun. Jaehyun, who was supposed to be asleep against Doyoung’s shoulder, but has perked up at the worst moment. 

“Go back to sleep,” Doyoung hisses, glaring at Jaehyun and promising death. Jaehyun smirks before closing his eyes and getting comfortable once more. 

“I’m sleeping,” Jaehyun replies. 

Doyoung takes one more look at the ponytail before cursing silently and shutting his eyes again.

*

The red haunts Doyoung for way too long, but it finally fades into a less vibrant, softer color. That’s more manageable, and Doyoung is almost used to it, but when Yuta comes back from the stylist with it dyed brown, Doyoung takes a long moment to himself to laugh and then scream into his pillow. 

But he gets himself under control, and is able to ignore it. 

Until. 

“Yah, Doyoung-ah.”

Doyoung makes a sound to indicate that he’s heard, but doesn’t look up from his paper. They’re all supposed to be writing messages for the backs of the photocards, but it seems like Yuta has gotten bored. 

_“Hey.”_

Doyoung looks up, because he’s weak for Nakamoto Yuta, and chokes. 

Yuta is leaning toward him across the enormous table they’re all working at. It’s too big for Yuta to be able to poke at Doyoung, but he has a grin on his face like he’s going to try to do something fun away. He’d had his hood up when he first came in, but it’s down now, revealing hair that’s wild and messy around his face. His eyes are sparkling, and Doyoung can’t hear what Yuta is saying because his brain is yelling at him. 

“Yo, hyung,” Mark says. “You’re smearing your card!”

Doyoung looks down at his note, barely noticing how his hand has smudged half the writing into an illegible blur. Yuta is still staring at him expectantly. 

“What?” Doyoung asks.

Yuta grins. “Are you going to finish your drink?”

*

Doyoung looks up from where he’s trying to make his mic lay flat under his shirt without itching him too much and says, “What is that?”

Donghyuck looks up and around.

“What is what?”

_“That,”_ Doyoung repeats, staring across the room.

“The snack table?” Donghyuck asks. “Yuta-hyung?”

“I know it’s Yuta,” Doyoung snipes back. “What is _that?_ His hair?” 

Yuta is indeed by the snack table, sucking down a juice box as he makes his decision. There’s a nice spread of both Korean and American snacks — some good ones, based on Johnny and Mark’s exclamations earlier — but Doyoung doesn’t care about the snacks. Yuta’s hair is pulled up into possibly the cutest ponytail Doyoung has ever seen. It’s grown enough that he doesn’t need any extra clips to keep it in place, and the stylist had let half of it flow free. Doyoung knows Yuta’s hair is soft, but he wants to double-check, just to be sure. 

Doyoung forgot who he was standing next to, and realizes he should’ve just kept his mouth shut when Donghyuck goes, _“Oh.”_

He looks to Donghyuck, who has a dangerous smirk on his face, and his stomach drops. 

“Forget it,” Doyoung says. 

“I can’t believe you’re this easy,” Donghyuck replies. “It’s a _ponytail.”_

“Hyung,” Doyoung says desperately, spotting Taeil. Taeil makes his way over with a soft smile on his face, and Donghyuck is immediately distracted. He latches onto Taeil in a way that makes Doyoung’s spine hurt just looking at it. 

“What’s going on?” Taeil asks. 

“Doyoungie-hyung is having his millionth Yuta-hyung awakening,” Donghyuck replies. He shoots Doyoung a devilish look when Doyoung chokes. 

“The ponytail?” Taeil asks. 

“Hyung!” Doyoung cries. He hisses for them to be silent when Yuta starts to make his way over, something in his hand. 

“Doyoung-ah!” Yuta says. “They have mango candies!” 

Doyoung takes the package Yuta hands over — had picked out specifically for him, apparently — and ignores the eerie, twin grins from Donghyuck and Taeil. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Doyoung says. “Wanna share?” 

Yuta’s grin is so bright that Doyoung has to look away again. 

*

Doyoung is staring out the window when Johnny finds him. 

“Yo, Doyoung. You good?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Doyoung says. 

_Dear Diary,_ he thinks morosely. _Today, Yuta-hyung dyed his hair silver. I don’t know how I will go on._

“Maybe you should like, say something,” Johnny says. He’s hovering at the edge of Doyoung’s vision. 

“I said I don’t want to,” Doyoung says. He’s being melodramatic, but he can’t help it. It’s sweet that Johnny’s concerned, but Doyoung would like to wallow in peace. 

“I didn’t mean now,” Johnny says. “I meant, say something to Yuta.”

“That’s _worse,”_ Doyoung says, finally turning away from the window. “Did you know Taeil-hyung knows?”

“Well…” Johnny trails off and then winces when Doyoung groans. “Everyone knows?”

Doyoung buries his face in his arms. “Do you think Yuta knows?’

Johnny is silent for too long, and then says, _so_ slowly, “No?”

“Fuck,” Doyoung whispers. Johnny laughs, like he can’t help it, and then tugs Doyoung to standing. 

“Dude, get some sleep,” Johnny says, pushing him in the direction of his room. “It’ll be okay.”

“Can you suddenly see the future, hyung?” Doyoung asks, letting Johnny manhandle him.

“Maybe,” Johnny jokes. “Can’t you trust me?”

Doyoung sighs. “I guess.”

Johnny chuckles and keeps him moving.

*

Partway into promotions, Yuta gets an undercut. 

“This,” Doyoung says. “Is...something, hyung.”

“You like it?” Yuta asks. Doyoung can’t answer, because he likes it so much. He reaches out and touches his fingers lightly to the short hair on the side of Yuta’s head. It’s been a long day, and he’s tired and sleep-deprived, so he doesn’t think about why it’s so dangerous to be this close to Yuta until it’s too late. Yuta doesn’t seem to mind. He just tilts his head into Doyoung’s hand and lets his eyes slide close.

Doyoung curls his hand around Yuta’s ear, his fingers brushing over the short hair again. There’s a smile curling the edges of Yuta’s mouth. 

“Um.”

Doyoung looks up from where they’re slumped on the couch, into the wide eyes of Taeyong. He freezes, but Yuta doesn’t open his eyes. 

“Hi, hyung,” Doyoung says, not sure what to do. He totally forgot they were in the common room. What the hell?

Jungwoo bumps into Taeyong’s back, almost making him spill the popcorn he’s carrying. That’s why Doyoung forgot they weren’t alone, since they had to make such a big batch. That, and Jungwoo and Taeyong’s mouths are a suspicious, matching pink.

“Are we…” Taeyong trails off.

“Interrupting?” Jungwoo finishes cheerfully.

Doyoung blinks. Opens his mouth. Doesn’t know what to say. He looks at Yuta and sees that Yuta has opened his eyes again and is already looking back. Doyoung is still cradling his face. He stays quiet, clearly waiting for Doyoung to answer.

Doyoung chickens out and takes his hand back, leaning away. Yuta settles back against the arm of the couch and watches Doyoung, eyes burning with a question that Doyoung thinks he’s interpreting correctly, but is too afraid to answer. 

“What movie are we watching?” Doyoung asks, and he swears he hears Jungwoo sigh a little before rattling off some titles. He focuses hard on the TV, and tries not to feel pathetic. 

Yuta is a burning presence next to him.

*

“Doyoung-ah,” Yuta calls before he walks right into Doyoung’s room without knocking.

“Yes, come in, hyung,” Doyoung intones as Yuta throws himself down on Doyoung’s bed. 

“I—” Yuta stops talking so abruptly that Doyoung looks up from his phone. 

“What is it?”

Yuta squeaks and grabs a pillow to hide his face.

“What?!”

Yuta mumbles something that Doyoung can’t understand through the pillow, so he reaches out and drags it away with a sigh. Yuta lets him take the pillow but keeps his eyes shut. 

“What was that?”

“Please take the glasses off,” Yuta whispers. 

“Why?” Doyoung asks. “Am I ugly?”

Yuta’s eyes fly open. “No! Stop it!”

Doyoung laughs, even though he had felt self-conscious for a second. These are new frames, and Johnny had told him they looked good, but he’s still getting used to them. 

“Then why would I take them off?” Doyoung asks. 

“They just...really make me want to kiss you.”

Doyoung lets that hang in the air for a second as he tries to wrap his head around it. Yuta is staring at the ceiling, his face slowly turning red. 

“You..didn’t want to before?”

Yuta darts a look at Doyoung and blushes harder. “I didn’t say that.”

“Hyung, how could you say this to me right now?” Doyoung demands. “I’m wearing my _retainer!”_

Yuta looks shocked that Doyoung is yelling at him, and then collapses into giggles. 

“I like it,” Yuta says. 

“Go die,” Doyoung replies. “My retainer is not sexy.”

Yuta giggles more as he scoots so he’s next to Doyoung. He snuggles close as Doyoung grumbles, ending up with his head on Doyoung’s shoulder as he messes with the strings of Doyoung’s hoodie. 

“Is that your only response?” Yuta asks softly. 

Doyoung swallows heavily and looks down at Yuta’s soft, questioning face. He’d left the hair on top long even with the undercut, and he’s pulled the longer pieces into a tiny ponytail. It’s cute and hot at the same time, and Doyoung hates how much he likes it.

“I thought you already knew how I felt,” Doyoung says. “Everyone else seems to.”

“I want to hear you say it,” Yuta pouts. 

“I like you,” Doyoung says, the steadiness in his voice surprising him. “I really like you.”

Yuta makes another soft sound and presses his face into Doyoung’s neck. 

“Go take your retainer out so we can make out please.”

Doyoung throws the blanket back and climbs out of bed quickly. “Fine. But the glasses are going too.”

“Leave the glasses on!” Yuta calls after him as he opens the door. Doyoung steps into the hall and sees Donghyuck, who looks like he wants to die. 

“What did I just hear?” 

“Stop eavesdropping, Haechan-ah,” Doyoung shoots back and walks off. Donghyuck trails after him. 

“But wait! Hyung! Does this mean you guys have stopped being idiots? Hyung!”

Doyoung shuts the bathroom door in Donghyuck’s face, and then leans against it and laughs. 

Donghyuck bangs on the door. “Hyung!”

Doyoung laughs again. Yeah — they’ve finally figured it out.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/diamondscoops)


End file.
